infonews.co.nz
INDEX
HEALTH

Lakes Leisure kicks off 'BIG BODS' health & fitness makeover this week

Tuesday 5 October 2010, 4:16PM

By Lakes Leisure Media

494 views

QUEENSTOWN

Ten Queenstowners needing to lose at least 20 kilos of extra weight are about to get in shape for free thanks to a Lakes Leisure initiative developed with the assistance of local health professionals Dr Kathryn Smith. The eight week Health & Fitness Makeover Programme is designed to get overweight people moving and paying attention to their nutrition so they can meet and maintain their long term health and fitness goals.



Along with consultations generously provided free of charge by nutritionist Helen Reid, physiotherapist Louise Sheppard and podiatrist Gareth Milne, participants will receive two personal training sessions each week to help them set realistic goals and stay on track during the challenge. They will also be given unlimited free access to Alpine Health & Fitness and Alpine Aqualand for 3 months.



The first programme members were recruited with the help of Wendy Den Hertog and Dr Kathryn Smith from the Queenstown Medical Centre - Wendy was the first to commit to undertaking the challenge. Lakes Leisure then advertised for two more participants, attracting an overwhelming 22 applicants who all need to lose over 20 kilos.



Lakes Leisure Communications Manger Rachelle Greene, who is coordinating the programme, said she was overwhelmed by the obvious need in the community for a programme of this nature.



“We knew there was a community need and expected to receive a few applications but we were really surprised that there were so many people in Queenstown who not only had more than 20 kilos to lose, but really wanted to do something about it. We immediately knew we wanted to give as many people as possible the opportunity, so we increased the number of fully funded participants to 10 in total.



“The selection process was really tough. We based our criteria on a ‘most at need’ basis, but even then we were really uncomfortable about the number of people who were missing out, after they had taken the big step of contacting us. That’s when we decided to open the programme up to everyone who had applied if they were able to contribute to costs by covering their own personal training,” Rachelle said.



The personal training is being provided by Alpine Health & Fitness personal trainers, who work on contract at the facility, at the significantly discounted rate of $25 per session. Programme members who are contributing to their own costs will need to pay just $400 in total to cover the eight week programme as Alpine Health and Fitness will contribute unlimited free of charge access to this group as well.



“We have applicants so keen to participate they are happy to contribute to the programmes cost which is great. Our funding for such initiatives is obviously limited, but we are keen to get as many people involved as possible and so are open to suggestions. We’re hoping to get a sponsor on board so we can keep running the programme and would love to hear from anyone that thinks they might be able to help,” Rachelle said.



The programme begins this Wednesday night at the Queenstown Events Centre with a nutrition seminar where participants will meet the programme team and importantly each other.



“Everyone I have talked to mentions how important the camaraderie will be to their success. Support seems to be the number one critical factor, but having other people on the same path makes a huge difference to people being able to stick at it.



“Weight Watchers no longer runs in Queenstown and we were unable to find any other local group for people to tackle these kinds of issues. We love the fact we can do this for people while adding the dimension of structured exercise to a healthy eating plan. We’re really looking forward to seeing the results just in time for Christmas,” Rachelle said.



Lakes Leisure is a council controlled organisation that operates on a charitable status and aims to encourage the widest possible community participation in sport and recreational activities in the region.